Behavioral syndrome in a native and an invasive hymenoptera species

Abstract

Recent studies have focused on the role of behavior in biological invasions. Individuals may differ consistently in time for several behavioral traits (personality) which covary (behavioral syndrome) resulting in different behavioral types, some of them favoring invasion. Social hymenopterans have a strong potential to be invaders and their success depends primarily on the foundresses' ability to found viable colonies. They are expected to be active, explorative and bold for optimally establishing their nest. In Europe, 2 hornet species coexist: the native Vespa crabro and the invasive Vespa velutina. These 2 species may compete for nesting sites and we suggest that the initial success of V. velutina has been favored by its behavior in outperforming V. crabro for the traits involved in nest initiation. Here, we (i) defined the personality of V. crabro and V. velutina, (ii) tested for the existence of behavioral syndrome in these species, and (iii) compared their performances using an open-field test. Our results show that V. crabro foundresses behave consistently but not V. velutina; this lack of consistency being mainly due to reduced variance among individuals. This result questions the possibility of detecting consistent behavioral differences in species having recently undergone a strong bottleneck. Both species exhibit the same correlations between activity, boldness and exploration and V. velutina clearly outperforms V. crabro for all traits. Our results suggest that activity, boldness, and exploration are implicated in both hornet nest initiation and invasion process which contributed to explain why social hymenopterans are so successful at colonization.

Competition between the native and the introduced hornets Vespa crabro and Vespa velutina: a comparison of potentially relevant life‐history traits

“…As regards the exploratory behaviour, in contrast to what was previously found for queens of the two species (Monceau et al, 2015b), with V. velutina queens bolder and more prone to exploration than V. crabro queens, workers were found to be similar in terms of both boldness and exploratory activity. As regards the exploratory behaviour, in contrast to what was previously found for queens of the two species (Monceau et al, 2015b), with V. velutina queens bolder and more prone to exploration than V. crabro queens, workers were found to be similar in terms of both boldness and exploratory activity.…”

“…To assess the explorative behaviour of V. velutina and V. crabro workers, we measured two behavioural traits (boldness and exploration) that had already been investigated in queens of the two species (Monceau et al, 2015b). To assess the explorative behaviour of V. velutina and V. crabro workers, we measured two behavioural traits (boldness and exploration) that had already been investigated in queens of the two species (Monceau et al, 2015b).…”

“…For example, behavioural traits such as boldness and explorative tendency, which are thought to play a relevant role in colony founding, differ between foundresses of the two species, favouring V. velutina invasion and potentially enabling it to outcompete V. crabro (Monceau et al, 2015b). For example, behavioural traits such as boldness and explorative tendency, which are thought to play a relevant role in colony founding, differ between foundresses of the two species, favouring V. velutina invasion and potentially enabling it to outcompete V. crabro (Monceau et al, 2015b).…”

Vespa velutinanest distribution at a local scale: An 8‐year survey of the invasive honeybee predator

“…Additionally, little is known about the pre-/post-hibernation dispersal of the foundresses . These hornets most likely disperse over long distances but not all individuals display high dispersal abilities (see Monceau et al, 2015b). Therefore, the foundresses that were less dispersive might initiate nests near the parent nest, which resulted in philopatry.…”

Personality and behavioural syndrome in Necromys lasiurus (Rodentia: Cricetidae): notes on dispersal and invasion processes

“…Populations with high dispersal rates have been shown to be composed of bold, exploratory, and aggressive individuals, which is being found in different taxons and habitats, for example: freshwater fish Rivulus hartii (Fraser et al 2001), common mice Mus musculus (Krackow 2003), great tit Parus major (Dingemanse et al 2003), crayfish Pacifastacus leniusculus (Pintor et al 2008), hymenoptera Vespa crabro and V. velutina (Monceau et al 2015). A combination of traits, such as high levels of aggressiveness, activity, exploration, and vigilance, for example, is important to the success of the invasion to a new area since it is related to cost reductions in dispersal (Bartón et al 2009;Phillip and Suarez 2012).…”